McCarthy: House Republicans busy cutting spending, setting new priorities to reduce government

 Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and House Majority Whip, submits his weekly view from Capitol Hill.

 

 "This week the House focused on removing barriers to job creation and rooting out wasteful spending. 

 

 "The House passed a bill that I cosponsored to repeal the 1099 requirement under the new health care law, to make it easier to create jobs.  The new health care law expanded tax reporting requirements that burden small businesses, requiring them to file a 1099 tax form for any purchases made of $600 or more.  Thinking back to my days as a deli owner, I would not have been able to afford an accountant to meet this mandate had this requirement been in place.  Countless local small businesses shared powerful stories of how disastrous this regulation would be to their future.  Thursday, 76 House Democrats joined my colleagues and I to repeal this measure so small businesses can devote resources to job creation, not tax filings.

 

 "In our Pledge to America, we promised we would end the spending abuse, and that’s what we’ve been hard at work to achieve.  An independent, non-partisan agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), released a report revealing clear examples of waste and duplication that can be eliminated to save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.  The American people know that our government cannot keep spending and expanding at the current rate, so we will continue working toward a government that is efficient and effective. 

 

 "Over the last two weeks, the House has taken action by producing two budget measures that trim back spending.  Families and businesses around our community have tightened their belts lately – the government should be no different.  Although Senate Democrats have not produced a plan to cut spending, the House isn’t waiting.  Just this week, my colleagues and I took the lead and passed a second short-term budget measure that cuts $4 billion spending in the next two weeks and keeps the federal government running.   More borrowing and more spending continues to create economic uncertainty and stifles small business investment, which is needed to create jobs.  The Senate passed this short-term extension and it was signed by the President.  In the long term, we cannot continue to ignore our bloated federal budget and more spending cuts are on the way.  We were elected to address the tough challenges facing our nation, I’m hopeful President Obama and Senate Democrats will join us in making the difficult decisions necessary to get our country back on track.

 

 "I also joined my colleagues in cosponsoring legislation (H.R. 869) to allow excess water storage at Lake McClure, which would increase water supply up to 70,000 acre-feet in a wet year to supply water needs for 160,000 households and generate 10,000 megawatt hours of electricity for the Central Valley.